5 Match Star Ratings For AEW Dynamite: Winter Is Coming
2. Cody Rhodes & Darby Allin Vs. Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs
A good match that functioned more as a showcase for Powerhouse Hobbs than as a banger, it was also arranged as if AEW knew full it was never going to get appraised by most fans one way or the other.
Hobbs developed his heel character strongly enough. He mocked Cody's arrogant push-up taunt and flipped him off twice before rag doll-ing Darby Allin. To bring into focus just how unbelievably talented Allin is, he stole the match by selling one of wrestling's oldest and most wrinkly holds. He looked like a helpless invertebrate flailing around under Hobbs' power. We didn't see anywhere near enough of Ricky Starks and Allin's electrifying animosity-drenched chemistry, and the finish arrived a bit too suddenly to the very slight detriment of Team Taz's credibility.
But this was by design, not negligence, because after an effective heel beat-down, Sting made his debut for the promotion.
He didn't do anything physically to ward off the threat, and that he didn't need to is a major credit to his timeless, mystical presence. When he circled the ring, in fantastic and inspired blocking, he also traced a line through time, coming eye to eye with the man who worshipped him in Cody and the man most capable of absorbing his enigmatic aura in Darby Allin. It's unclear where this is going. It's much clearer that it can go nowhere, at least inside the ropes. But that doesn't matter. Yet. The spectacle was arranged so spectacularly that it de-aged Sting and rebuilt his mystique within two instantly seminal minutes.
Shout-out to Mikey Rukus, too, for nailing the living sh*t out of that theme. It captured the old, mysterious power exceptionally well.
Star Rating: ★★★¼